Pages

Search Liverpool Picturebook

Liverpool in the 1950s From The History Press

Liverpool in the 1950s will to take you back to that period
in our history when despite what seemed like an impossible task, the people of
Liverpool simply knuckled down and got on with it.

The wireless was playing Nat King Cole singing ‘Mona Lisa’,
and on the 16th January 1950 the BBC’s first broadcast of ‘Listen with Mother’
was heard, as the women of the city were getting used to being back at home
looking after the kids as the men returned to take over the jobs that the women
had done in wartime. The remaining population of Liverpool after the Second
World War numbered 981,000 scousers, and Liverpool ushered in the 1950‘s. The
stark reality though, was that Liverpool was a city with a whole lot of work to
do to rebuild its past. It was the most severely bombed city outside of London
especially during the heavy bombardments of the May and June blitzes of 1941.
More than 10,000 homes were destroyed and some 3, 875 people killed.

Liverpool in the 1950s will to take you back to that period
in our history when despite what seemed like an impossible task, the people of
Liverpool simply knuckled down and got on with it. But the focus of the book is
not just on the centre of the city. Page by page we will take you on a journey
through the Liverpool districts from Bootle to the Garston and show you exactly what life was like back
then, courtesy of the photographers of the period. Showing you photographs
taken by the City Engineers department recording the buildings left standing
after the war, and showing some of the newer developments that were happening
in the suburbs. Local photographer Johnny Lockhart was also out there with his
camera taking photographs that would become an invaluable record for generations
to come. The men and women of Liverpool City Police are also featured and we
get an insight into just how the police force in Liverpool developed during the
50s. Coronation year was the best excuse for a party since the war, and as
Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne scousers came out in droves to decorate the
streets and celebrate with street parties. The shops were filled with
memorabilia and in city centre the council were proud to join in, decorating
public places and organising events.